Death Scripture

It was a bizarre hall, with a spacious and level pathway, and gloomy halos of lamp light floating in the darkness. Every time the lamp on Han Fen’s head shook, the halos trembled with it, bobbing up and down, and giving off an underwater vibe.

“I told you that there were ghosts here,” Han Fen said in an extremely low voice.

Old Man Mu struggled his way free before jumping to the ground. The effect of the paralytic powder on him had already worn off. Although his internal energy hadn’t recovered yet, he had regained his mobility, “Holy crap! I feel dizzy.”

“Crystal, there’s crystals everywhere!” Deng Yuanlei was so excited that his voice was trembling. Lu Mian had also come around by now. The former had a wounded left leg while the latter had a wounded right one, which made them perfect partners keep each other’s balance.

“Shh, there’re really ghosts here. The last time I came here, I saw ghostly shadows running around and there was also this scary sound, just like-” Han Fen started mimicking a baby’s cry.

She was obviously very afraid of ghosts, and nobody took her words seriously. Old Man Mu consoled her, saying, “Don’t be afraid. My Qi is strong enough to knock down ten ghosts. No ghosts will dare come near me.”

“Really? Then I’ll stay close to you.”

Gu Shenwei also jumped to the ground. That palm attack he had hit Lu Mian with had cost him all his internal energy, so he was the last one to recover.

The effects of the paralytic powder in the four men’s bodies had completely worn off, but they had only an average man’s strength, so Han Fen wasn’t worried. The only thought on her mind was how to evade the ghosts and the Hall Leader.

Lu Mian abruptly reminded her, “Be careful, Han Fen. The Dragon King is immune to the Indra Fragrance and he still has his internal energy.”

“That’s impossible.” Han Fen refuted his advice without a second thought, continuing to look around. “The Indra Fragrance was made by the Master Commander herself and nobody under the sun can resist its effects.”

“The Dragon King has the antidote. I saw him swallow something.” Deng Yuanlei had been the closest to the Dragon King at that time, and had seen him touch his lips with a strong motion. It was not until now that he realized what that movement had symbolized.

Han Fen became suspicious. She turned and faced the Dragon King, taking a posture which gave the impression that she was both about to flee and about to fight at the same time. “Dragon King, have you really recovered?”

“If I recover, the first thing I would do is strike you down.”

“Strike me however you want, but remember to hand me over to the Master Commander and to let her kill me,” Han Fen said in an unusually serious tone before suddenly breaking out into laughter. “Oh, I get it. You haven’t struck me down, so you haven’t recovered.”

Old Man Mu gave a sigh. He felt concerned for Han Fen, and was also worried about when the Dragon King would fully recover.

Gu Shenwei shared the same concerns; the paralytic powder’s effects had worn off, but the recover speed of his internal energy had stayed the same, as slow as a trickle.

“Han Fen, use the knockout powder on the Dragon King and Old Man Mu again. Don’t let them move around freely.” Lu Mian’s right knee was shattered and he was still wary of the Dragon King, but he also believed that the Dragon King hadn’t fully recovered yet.

“No. The Dragon King’s a friend, and Old Man Mu’s not a bad guy either.”

Lu Mian snorted, feeling that every woman of the Waning Moon Hall had their own weird behaviors, particularly this Han Fen, so he just had to find another way.

Han Fen gave Old Man Mu a push. “You have strong Qi. You go first.”

Old Man Mu didn’t refuse and strode forward. At the end of the crystal hall, there were two conspicuous stone doors, one to the left and the other on the right. He asked, “Which way?”

“Dragon King, which way do you think we should go?” Han Fen was at the end of her rope. She had only been here once before, and at that time, she had fled immediately when she sensed the supposed ghosts.

“Right.” Gu Shenwei gave a casual answer, without explaining why.

There was a dark narrow passage behind the right door, only about three feet wide, and a fat person might not even be able to get through it. Old Man Mu took a look, then said, “Let the two cripples go first.”

They hadn’t encountered any dangerous traps so far, but this place was a mausoleum that the Khan prepared for himself, so nobody dared to treat it as a tomb, which was why Deng Yuanlei shook his head immediately. “No, we won’t be able to fit.”

“Walk sidewa-”

Before Old Man Mu could finish speaking, Han Fen suddenly grabbed his neck and tossed him into the passage.

With an “ouch,” Old Man Mu landed at the end without triggering any traps. “Han Fen, you are so disloyal to your friends.”

“You’ll be fine. You Qi is stro—” Han Fen abruptly stopped talking.

All four people still outside the passageway were holding their breath and listening attentively. Old Man Mu could had a premonition that something was wrong. After a while, he became impatient and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

“Ghosts,” Han Fen replied in an even lower voice.

“People,” Gu Shenwei also answered, but in an extremely positive tone.

“Someone was acting as a ghost,” Lu Mian also gave his thoughts.

All four people had heard a very slight “heh” coming from their back. Although it was ephemeral and fleeting, Gu Shenwei and Lu Mian were sure that it had been made by that person.

Deng Yuanlei was more experienced with the martial arts world than his Sect Leader, but he was not very assertive, and his voice was quivering slightly. “Is that really a person? It might be something else, couldn’t it?”

“All the kung fu skills you practiced are in vain,” Lu Mian reprimanded. If it weren’t for that he still needed Deng Yuanlei’s help, he would’ve pushed him aside already. In a loud voice, Lu Mian resumed talking. “You don’t have to hide. Just tell us the right direction and we’ll be on our way in no time. We promise that we won’t touch anything in this mausoleum.”

Han Fen thought that Lu Mian had chosen his words very wisely, so she raised her thumb at him and then in a low voice, she also promised, “We won’t touch anything.”

There was no response.

In the passage, Old Man Mu said, “Let’s keep moving. Here’s another room.”

The four people went in on by one.

They entered a hall paved with silver, and it was several times larger than the previous crystal one, which was why its ceiling felt a little short. Old Man Mu lay on his stomach and crawled several steps forward, examining the tiles. “The Khan’s got some serious money. I mean, how much did he have to pay to build this hall? Is it possible that it’s plated?”

“You’re so smart, Dragon King. You made the right choice,” Han Fen said happily. “I still remember the map that the Master Commander showed me. The next one is a golden hall, and then there’ll passage leading to a nearby valley, where we’ll be safe.”

“Where you’ll be safe,” Old Man Mu repeated slowly as he stood up, since he and Dragon King were actually hoping to meet back up with Han Wuxian. But he didn’t worry, because the Dragon King seemed to have been gathering his internal energy this whole time, so it was just a matter of time before they overpowered Han Fen and escaped safely.

It was very strange that all the entries and exits of the Khan’s mausoleum were at the two far ends, and that in the front there was nothing but firm walls. “It’s supposed to be here. The map says that the halls are connected to each other in a circle…” Han Fen explained.

Gu Shenwei chose the exit on the right side once again.

And once again, he was right. They made it to the golden hall once again without triggering any trap mechanisms.

“I presume it’s because the mausoleum is unfinished.” Old Man Mu, when they were progressing through the passageway, gave a guess as to why there was no defense.

The look of the golden hall seemed to have verified his words. There were only smooth stone walls, and if weren’t for the gold scrapings on the ground, they would have thought that they were in the wrong place.

Old Man Mu was very disappointed. “Turns out that it’s not unfinished. Someone has looted the gold.”

The golden hall was relatively small, but it would still a huge project to pave six of its surfaces; they could only imagine how much gold there used to be in this hall. “The Waning Moon Hall took it,” Deng Yuanlei said enviously, feeling pain in his heart as if those now-gone gold used to belong to him.

Han Fen didn’t care about the gold. She found the exit immediately and cheered, “This is it. It leads to the valley.”

The tunnel was uneven, and there were even puddles of water on the floor. Han Fen led, and the other four followed her. Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian had injured legs, and they didn’t walk far before they started panting heavily. They sat down and refused to continue.

Han Fen ignored them and kept on pushing forward. The oil lamp was still on her head, yet she seemed to have forgot about its existence.

“Are you sure we’re not walking to hell? It seems like the further we go, the deeper it gets,” Old Man Mu asked in confusion. “And there’s also more and more water.”

“Ah!” with a scream, Han Fen backed up quickly and almost knocked down the two people behind her. “There’s a lake ahead.”

An underground lake was blocking their path. It turns out that the passage they’d walked through was built to prevent the mausoleum from being flooded. The lake seemed like it had formed naturally and it probably was connected to some river, leading outside.

“Let’s swim across.” Thinking that the Hall Leader was right above, Han Fen became fearless.

Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, “The road ahead must have been blocked.”

“How do you know?” Han Fen tried to make out the other side of the lake, but all she saw was darkness.

Gu Shenwei pointed at a sticking pillar of stone and a repaired stone platform, “This should be the old dock. Lotus shipped away the gold and left the boat on the opposite side. In the south part of the mausoleum, there should be plenty of treasure left that Lotus didn’t have enough time to bring away, which is why she would block the passage.”

Gu Shenwei believed this as it was also what he would do if he were Lotus, so it was probably her plan.

“Even so, we should still swim across and check it out.” Han Fen knew little about the Master Commander’s other plans, and all she wanted do was to get as far away from the Hall Leader as possible.

Deeply experiencing the pains of being an ordinary person, Old Man Mu was also a little tired. Besides, it was not necessary for him to try to escape. “Let’s take another path. Why risk it?”

“There’s no other way. Every hall only has two exits, and the other one’s surely a dead end.”

“Even so, there’s no need to hurry. I mean, Han Wuxian won’t be up there waiting for you forever. Just find a spot and hide. THhn when she’s leaves, you’ll be free to go.”

Han Fen understood this, but she was too afraid, “Won’t the Hall Leader discover this mausoleum?”

“You think everybody’s as smart as you are?” Old Man Mu asked impatiently.

“Then let’s take a risk this time – actually, I can’t swim since I grew up in the desert, and we didn’t have much water there.”

Shaking his head and sighing, Old Man Mu turned and started walking away. In a low voice, he muttered, “I would have ditched this kind of disciple as well if I were Han Wuxian…”

“Where are you going?” Han Fen said in her surprise.

“I’m going back. I’d rather lie on silver than stay in a damp and dark place like this.”

Gu Shenwei shared Old Man Mu’s opinion. Han Fen could have forced them to stay, but she followed them anyway after pondering for a while.

Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian had already returned to the gold hall, and were trying their best to open the stone door of the entry and retrace their steps to the silver hall.

“You need more strength to open it.” Han Fen pushed the two aside and pressed her palm on a brick.

The door didn’t open.

Han Fen thought about it for a bit as she tilted her head, and then pressed the switch again, this time with greater strength.

It still wouldn’t open.

Han Fen backed up three steps in horror, “The ghosts have haunted the door.” Suddenly she burst into laugh. “Hall Leader won’t be able to come in now. You’re such good ghosts. Thank you.”

Old Man Mu gave a resigned glance at the Dragon King, “For god’s sake, there’re no ghosts. I think that they’re just disciples of the Waning Moon Hall ordered by Lotus to stay and guard the treasure. They’ve been jerking you around and yet you still feel happy about it.”

Han Fen shook her head firmly, “No way. That can’t be true. If they were disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, they would have started running for their lives as fast as I was after hearing that the Hall Leader’s above them.”

“Hey!”

Han Fen turned around instantly and stared at the others. “Who?”

The four shook their heads simultaneously and became alert, since the source of the voice was not among them.

“Ha.”

Han Fen hurried to the corner in a single step. The oil lamp on her head shook, but didn’t fall. “I have the magic lamp on my head; the old man has thick Yang qi; the Dragon King has a strong killing aura. Han Fen little baby, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”

Gu Shenwei looked at the stone door leading into the tunnel. There was a shadow there and nobody knew when it had appeared. It looked like a bamboo pole, stretching to the ceiling.